


he's like cold coffee in the morning

by timetoon (danosaurrrrrr)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Coffee, Early Mornings, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 10:19:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4388102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danosaurrrrrr/pseuds/timetoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis brings Harry coffee every morning. Harry hopes that it will lead to something more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	he's like cold coffee in the morning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Veronibell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veronibell/gifts).



> title comes from cold coffee by ed sheeran, my personal favorite song of his

There was a great, reverberating  _thump!_ that sounded when Harry dropped his head onto the desk in front of him. His lack of sleep is finally,  _finally_ catching up to him, and it is ruining his Tuesday morning. His hair flopped down as his English professor began lecturing, but his head stayed firmly down.

Harry’s eyes opened suddenly when he felt someone poking the back of his neck. He whirled around, green eyes flashing, to see who had woken him from his much needed nap. To his surprise, the person directly behind him, and therefore the culprit, was none other than Louis Tomlinson, the very attractive star of the latest school musical. Louis smiled, blue eyes soft.

“Professor is giving us the next essay topic. Sorry to wake you, but it seemed rather important,” Louis whispered to Harry, who was still a bit shaken. He glanced around to see if anyone had noticed his falling asleep and waking up, but no one was paying them any attention. Louis gave him one last smile, then looked back up at the front of the room, ending their brief interaction.

“Thanks, I guess.” Harry yawned quietly and turned back around.

Thus began the endless morning greetings between the two boys.

 

 

Harry’s life was not exciting. He attended school and worked at a bakery just off of the campus. When he was younger, he had hoped that he could be the most famous doctor in the world, one that was also Spiderman in his spare time. Needless to say, that dream fell through. Harry wasn’t upset, however, because he was exhausted with just going to classes and working at a bakery. How tiring would being a doctor _and_ Spiderman be?

Harry startled awake at eight forty nine, when he finally realized that his alarm was blaring. His roommate, Niall, had already left to do something. Niall was full of energy, and definitely a ‘morning person’. The first night in the dorm with Niall taught Harry that the other man could play video games until three in the morning, and wake up two hours later to be there when the campus McDonalds opened.

Harry shot out of his bed and into his closet. He didn’t have time to care about clothes (his class started at nine o’clock, and he had a fifteen minute walk), so he grabbed the first items of clothing he saw. His hands were running through his hair as he slipped on his shoes and snatched his key and phone from their safe place on his nightstand. A lesson he had learned early on was that he should never sleep with his phone in his bed, lest he lose it and find it a week later under his mattress.

The autumn sky was a beautiful blue, a surprising contrast to the previous two weeks’ worth of rain and cold. Harry wished he could stop and admire the view, but his horribly planned schedule did not allow this. When he reached the Arts building that his English class was in, it was seven past nine and Harry felt nervous. He had never been late for class in his life (he was popular in school, just not enough to skip class), so he didn’t know the protocol. Would his professor stop lecturing and tell him off? Would his fellow classmates stare at him as he walked in, making him feel embarrassed?

Neither of those things happened. The professor was turned around, talking on his phone, and most of the students seemed to be in varying states of slumber. The only person that seemed to be fully awake was none other than Louis Tomlinson, the local star.

As Harry slipped into his seat, he felt a tap on his shoulder. This had become a regular morning greeting from Louis, and he tried to hide his smile as he turned around.

“Late for class, eh? How very dare you.” Louis sounded harsh, but his eyes contained a bright smile.

“I slept through my alarm, which means that I skipped my normal morning coffee,” Harry said sheepishly as Louis raised his eyebrows. “I have a roommate that doesn’t go to bed until three, so I can’t really sleep as much as I would like.” This was true. As nice and fun as Niall was, he was not a quiet person.

“Well, make sure to tell your roommate that I resent him for always making you tired. Your nodding off distracts me from my learning.” The right side of Louis’ mouth flicked up into a smirk. “I could get you a coffee in the mornings, if it means that you could get a bit more sleep.”

Harry was taken aback. “Coffee isn’t cheap, Louis. You don’t need to do—” his sentence was cut off by a yawn. Louis looked at Harry pointedly. “Fine. But I promise that I will pay you back.”

As Louis looked about to retort, a booming “Good morning, students!” echoed around the auditorium, and Harry turned around, effectively cutting off the conversation.

When the class was over, Harry slowly stood and began to make his way to the door. The class lasted two hours, and he had skipped his breakfast as well as his coffee, so he was ready to finally ingest something. He felt someone beside him as he walked out of the building and towards McDonalds, but he soon noticed that the person next to him was not leaving.

He glanced to the side and saw Louis, with his hands in his pockets and a grin on his face. When Louis saw Harry looking at him, his smile grew even larger, and his bright blue eyes twinkled, making Harry feel a bit lighter. “Where are we off to today, Harry?”

“ _I_ am getting food because I slept through my extra time this morning. _You_ just decided to follow me.”

Louis furrowed his eyebrows. “Do you not actually sleep at night?” He almost sounded concerned.

Harry shook his head. “Not really. Niall can sleep through anything, but I wake up if someone else so much as breathes.” Louis nodded contemplatively. They reached McDonald’s in silence. After they ordered (Harry got two double cheeseburgers and a milkshake, and Louis ordered his weights’ worth in chicken nuggets), they sat in a booth that looked onto a nicely groomed lawn in the center of the campus. It was beautiful, with lush green grass and a majestic fountain that sprayed water ten feet in every direction. There were dozens of students sprawled about, some studying and some just conversing with their friends. It was peaceful.

When their names had been called and their food had been dropped on their table, Louis looked at Harry. “So, Harold, what is your deepest, darkest secret that you have yet to tell anyone?”

Harry saw Louis’ playful face, and decided that a playful answer was well deserved. “Once, when I was seven, I went to school with pink painted nails, makeup, and a dress on.”

Louis laughed uproariously at that. “What drove you to do such a thing?” He asked, when he could properly speak again.

Harry grinned at the reaction he had gotten. _Louis has a nice laugh,_ he noted to himself. _And a nice smile._ “Well, if you must know, I was attacked by my sister. She put the makeup and dress on me right as I was about to leave. I didn’t have time to change or take the makeup off. I got quite a few interesting looks thrown my way that day.”

“What about the pink polish?” Louis questioned.

Harry grinned. “I was wearing that already.”

 

 

The next time Harry arrived (on time) to his morning class, there was a surprise waiting for him on his desk.

“Louis,” Harry whispered without turning around. “Did you get me this?” Harry gestured to the giant cup of coffee sitting on the front of his desk.

“Yes, I did.” Louis whispered back. “I thought that since you seemed so tired in the mornings, I could help you sleep a bit more by getting you a coffee instead of you having to get one. Then you could get ten more minutes in bed.”

Harry was touched. No one had done something quite that thoughtful for him in a long time. “Thank you. I’ll pay you back, I promise.”

The professor began talking and cut off the quiet conversation between the two boys.

For the next few weeks, Harry would come to class to find coffee and a smiling boy on his desk. Louis had taken a liking to Harry, it seemed, and he sat on the younger boy’s desk every morning to hand deliver the coffee and tell stories and jokes in hopes to wake Harry up. It usually worked, and left Harry and Louis in stitches by the time the class actually started.

One morning, there wasn’t just a cup of coffee sitting on Harry’s desk when he walked into the room. A blue eyed boy, soft and sleepy, was sitting next to the coffee.

“Hey, Lou!” Harry said softly to the boy on his desk. Harry didn’t dare try to sit in his chair until Louis had gotten up. “Why are you on my desk?”

Louis smiled kindly. “Good morning Harry. I have a question to ask you and I thought I had better do it while I still have the nerve to do so.”

Harry frowned. What could Louis possibly want? Did he want money for all of the coffee that he had bought Harry? Did he want Harry to stop talking to him before class because it left them both distracted at the beginning of class? Harry’s head swam with all of the possible questions.

“-with me?” Louis’ voice brought Harry out of his thoughts.

“Sorry, could you say that again?”

Louis laughed uncomfortably. “I asked if you would like to go on a date with me sometime.” Harry paused, and Louis apparently took that as a bad sign. “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. I just thought that, maybe, you wanted to too because we have been talking a lot and I really thought that we were good together, but if you don’t think-”

Harry beamed and cut off Louis’ rambling. “Louis!” Said boy stopped his quick words and blushed. _He looks good like that,_ Harry thought. “I never said no. Why did you assume that I would?”

“I didn’t know if you swung that way, so I thought that maybe you were disgusted by the thought.”

“Do I look like the type of person to think that that would be disgusting?”

Louis had the grace to look a little ashamed. “No, I guess not.”

“Then, Louis Tomlinson, I would be honored to go on a date with you.” At Harry’s words, Louis let out a long breath that Harry didn’t know he had been holding. He looked much more at ease, and that amused Harry more than it should. Why would Louis be so nervous to ask him, of all people, out? “Are you okay now?”

“Yes, I am. Asking people out doesn’t happen daily, despite what people may think.” Louis thought for a second before continuing. “Could I also have your number to I can alert you when I have our plans?”

Harry rattled off his number, and before the conversation could continue, the professor walked into the room. This prompted Louis to hop off of Harry’s desk and run back to his own. Harry followed Louis with his eyes, and when the blue eyed boy noticed, he winked. Harry blushed and turned back around, even though he was sure that he wasn’t going to learn anything this morning anyway.

Later that afternoon, Harry was confronted by a fellow employee at the bakery. He had been spacy all afternoon, and this apparently called for an immediate questioning. Harry hadn’t known just how much he liked Louis until Louis had asked him out. Harry was thrilled, and he knew that it was a bit presumptuous, but he agreed with Louis when he had said that the two of them would be great together.

 

 

Two days later, on a Friday afternoon, Harry received a text from Louis, telling him to be casually dressed and outside his residence hall at six the next evening. Harry’s excitement spiked, leading him to rush to his room to choose what to wear. He hadn’t been on a true date in quite some time. He had had nights out where he met someone and stayed with them for the night, but that was hardly romantic. This date with Louis was surely going to be much more romantic than a casual one night stand.

When Harry finally got his key in his door and kicked the door opened, he heard Niall yell “Jesus Christ!” and a loud _thump!_ When Harry’s eyes focused on his roommate, he saw the blond in a heap on the floor, clutching his chest. Harry’s laughter couldn’t be stopped, and he ended up on the floor next to Niall who also had started laughing.

When the boys had stopped their maniacal laughter and had pulled themselves onto their respective beds, they spoke.

“So what had you in such a big hurry to get into our dingy and small room?” Niall questioned as he reached for the remote for the small television that the pair had managed to fit into their room.

“I got a text from Louis--” Harry started, but was quickly cut off by Niall, who suddenly looked excited.

“Really? What did he say? Did he tell you where you were going?” Niall had been invested in the nonexistent relationship between Harry and Louis since Harry had told him about Louis buying him coffee every morning. This had led Niall to begin questioning Harry about Louis daily, hoping for something to have happened between the two boys. When he had asked Harry two days ago and Harry had told him about the date, Niall had almost crushed Harry with the force of his hug, and almost deafened him with the strength of his yell.

“He just said to dress casually and to be outside the building at six tomorrow. And before you ask, no, he did not tell me what we were doing.” Harry leaned against the wall and sighed. He liked Louis a lot, but he definitely did not like surprises. He had experienced plenty of surprises in his life, and most of them had not been good.

“Oh, I get it.” Niall nodded wisely. “You want to get in his pants tomorrow, and needed to think of a plan to get there.”

Harry spluttered. “What? No! That’s not what it was at all! I just wanted to find something casual but still nice to wear.”

“This date is tomorrow. You don’t need to start thinking about what to wear until five forty five tomorrow.”

“But I, unlike you, actually care what I look like occasionally.”

Niall just shrugged and made a sound of agreement.

Harry stood up from his bed and walked to his tiny closet. He opened the doors and pulled out his favorite pair of black skinny jeans. They were comfortable, and he knew that they made him look somewhat more attractive than he was when he wasn’t wearing him. When he saw the small amount of choices he had for shirts he cursed himself for not having done his laundry the day before as he had originally planned. He didn’t want to trek all the way downstairs to wash his clothes, though, so he decided that he could choose between the few shirts he still had that were somewhat clean.

 

 

The next day was full of Harry making amateur mistakes at his job, and finally being told to go home at four, an hour before he was originally supposed to. His boss, an older lady named Elle, had good-naturedly told him that he needed to leave her kitchen before he caused a fire, and he ashamedly apologized continuously as he left the building.

When he arrived home he checked the time on his phone and decided it was not too early to begin getting ready for his date with Louis. He still felt ridiculously giddy when he thought about how he was going on a date with _Louis_ , the boy he had inadvertently had a crush on for quite some time. The boy that played soccer as well as he could act. The boy that was kind to everyone he met, and had a wicked sense of humor. The boy with the soft looking hair, slightly tanned skin, and dancing blue eyes.

When Harry was pulled from his thoughts, he quickly set about pulling his clothes on. Along with his skinny jeans, he wore a worn white v-neck with a blue and pink flannel pulled over it. His favorite boots and a pink patterned head scarf finished off the look.

Harry bounded down the stairs fifteen minutes before six. He didn’t want to be late and make Louis think that he had stood him up.

When Harry opened the door to the residence hall, he saw Louis sitting on the bench directly to the right of the door. It was dreary; not raining, but not sunny. The sky was a soft gray, one that authors and poets would be inspired by. Harry was neither of those, so he looked to Louis instead. He was muttering under his breath, seeming to be on edge. Harry smiled softly, admiring the blue eyed boy. He was also wearing black skinny jeans, but that is where the similarities ended. Louis had dressed in an old Blink-182 shirt and solid black Vans. He also had a black leather jacket thrown over the back of the bench that would be there to fight off the cold of the evening.

Harry cleared his throat then, and Louis’ head snapped up. Instead of reprimanding Harry like he looked as if he was about to, he smiled at the taller boy in front of him. Louis stood and grinned at Harry.

“Hi,” Louis said to Harry, “Are you ready to go?”

Harry nodded. “Of course. I’ve been ready for this for a while, I think.”

“Really?” Louis’ face lit up.

“Yes, Lou, I have.” Harry chuckled.

“Well, I’m glad. And I hope that tonight lives up to your expectations.”

“I’m sure it will.” Harry then reached for Louis’ hand. Louis took the outstretched hand and began walking Harry to Louis’ car. It was an old red Mustang, scratched and rusty in some places, but it held a sense of pride as well. Louis opened the passenger door and Harry climbed in (clumsily, because he had yet to learn how to control his long limbs). The door slammed shut once he had settled in and Louis clambered into the driver’s seat.

As the car began moving, the two boys began talking. Harry learned that Louis had been the quiet and shy kid in high school, and had learned to come out of his shell when he joined the theatre group in his school. Louis learned that Harry had been the popular guy at his school, and had been at the top of his class and gave the speech at his high school graduation. They slowly learned to let go and laugh around each other, and Harry loved it.

Louis drove to a nondescript looking warehouse. It was a dark gray, one that contrasted with the sky. There were no windows, and only one black, windowless door. When they had parked by the building, Harry began feeling a bit anxious. He didn’t know Louis _that_ well. What could they possibly be doing here?

Harry’s apprehension must have showed on his face, because Louis took one look at his face and started chuckling. “I’m not going to murder you, I promise.”

Harry jumped at the voice beside him and smiled weakly. “I didn’t think that you would.”

“I can see on your face that you are nervous, but if you follow me I promise that it will be well worth the time.” This time Louis held out his hand, and Harry took it. He hoped that Louis couldn’t feel how clammy his palm was.

They reached the door quickly and walked in. When inside, Harry realized, somewhat foolishly, that he shouldn’t have been worried at all. In fact, he should have been excited.

Right inside the door was a counter with two people sitting behind it, one red-headed girl, and a freckled boy. Behind the two at the desk were two doors, one leading straight and the other veering off to the left. On the wall to the right of the desk were around fifty paint ball guns, and piles of vests and gear laid on the floor.

Louis grinned up at Harry. “Are you ready for this?”

Harry grinned back, equally as excited. “I’ve never been more ready for anything.”

 

 

“I definitely beat you!”

“No, you cheated!”

“I would never do that!”

An hour later and the two boys tumbled through the door. They had played furiously with two other pairs of people, and Harry’s team had come out victorious. Louis decided to ignore the sizable lead Harry’s team had had, and tried to reckon with Harry to allow Louis to share the win between the two of them.

“Did you boys have fun?” The red-head at the front desk asked when they dropped their gear off in the correct place by the desk.

“It was amazing!” Harry and Louis said in unison. The girl smiled and turned away, and Louis decided that it was time to go. He slipped his hand into Harry’s and they walked back to Louis’ car. Louis drove Harry home, going below the limit and stopping a little too long at stop signs and lights because he wanted to prolong their time together. Harry was pleased, and hoped that it meant that they might possibly have another night like this one sometime in the near future.

When they arrived back at the campus, Louis parked and walked Harry to his residence hall. They slowly took the stairs and ended up in front of Harry’s door. When they came to a standstill, Louis looked up at Harry through his eyelashes. He thought for a second, and then grabbed Harry’s neck and pulled him down into a sweet kiss.

Harry smiled slightly and responded back happily. After just a few seconds more, Louis pulled away. “I really enjoyed tonight, Harry.”

“I did too, Lou. I really, really did.”

“I’m glad. I hope--” Niall loudly opened the door before Louis could continue.

“Harry, you need to get in here right now.” Niall sounded serious, which was a first. Harry got worried, and pulled even further away from Louis.

“I’ll see you later, yeah?” Harry pecked Louis’ cheek and walked into his room. Louis smiled at him understandingly and waved over his shoulder as he walked away.

When Harry had closed the door, he turned sharply to Niall. “What is going on?” He hissed.

Niall shrugged. “Nothing. I just wanted to hear all about your night.”

 

 

On Monday morning, bright and early, Harry arrived tiredly at his desk. When he had dropped his bag on the floor and moved to sit down, he saw a large paper cup of coffee sitting in the corner with a note taped to it. He furrowed his eyebrows and reached for the cup and ripped the paper off to get a better look at it.

_I really enjoyed the other night,_ it read in messy handwriting. _I really hope that we can continue to have nights like that, but with one difference._ That was all the note read. Harry whirled around, just to find Louis already waiting behind him.

“What’s the difference?” Harry asked breathlessly.

Louis took a deep breath. “The difference is, if you wanted, that you would be my boyfriend.”

Harry beamed at the nervous looking boy in front of him. “Of course, Louis. I would love to be your boyfriend.” He says and wraps his arms around the smaller boy.

 

When the two boys tell their story to their future children, they will never forget to mention the importance of coffee in everyday life.

               

               

               

 

 

               

               

               

 

 

               


End file.
